The best asset for a successful cotton harvest is a good operator. Your harvester definitely ranks high in this area, too, but it can only do so much if you or the operator you hire lacks certain knowledge and skills. Fortunately, teaching people is always possible and learning more about your own harvester is a good investment of time, which makes this a simple problem to solve. Here is what you (or your hired hand) need to do or know to guarantee efficient operation of your harvester:
Read the manual: No, it is not a riveting novel, but it is necessary to read the harvester’s manual and understand the contents. This is especially true if you purchased a new harvester or started using a new model, since they can have their idiosyncrasies. There may be some truly technical content that you may not comprehend, but overall, you will learn cleaning, maintenance, and troubleshooting that can prove essential later—even if you lack the engineering degree to understand the technical specs. You will also learn about the quirks of your machine and how to handle them. You would not enjoy discovering those on accident in the middle of a cotton field.
Know lint quality: This bit of expertise will help you determine the best harvesting time. Many people make the mistake of picking cotton when it is too green or when weather interferes. Wet weather after the boil opens often means waiting until the field dries out. Freezing weather can also compromise them, and the best course of action is to wait for a thaw and let things dry out. The best quality is after the boil opens and enough time passes to let it dry. Check the condition of the boils and the weather report before getting your harvester to work.
Learn how to make adjustments: How you adjust your harvester will determine quality and yield. Many of these adjustments are explained in your manual, but as you use your harvester, you will get some on-the-job training, too. If you deviate from the manual due to particular circumstances, make small adjustments so you can return them to default settings more easily. You do not want to adjust for one situation that never happens again, only to forget what worked every other time.
Center your rows: Badly centered rows lead to poor tracking and inconsistent picking. This is a common operator error that often arises from being in a hurry or having a lack of knowledge related to maneuvering the harvester. It is likely not a great idea to start picking one hour before a storm starts unless you are very skilled at keeping your harvester steady. If you decide to hire someone for this task, devise a “driving test” type of exercise to see if they can center rows well.
Once you become the ideal operator or you decide to hire one instead, be sure to know where you can buy the best cotton picker parts when it comes time to repair or maintain your harvester. Contact Certi-Pik, USA today to see our catalog.
If you are knew to the world of cotton picking, or are just looking to maximize your efficiency and get the best yield possible, then there is one crucial question you ought to be asking: When in the season, and on a day-to-day basis, should I start picking my cotton crop?
As any experienced cotton picker knows, the answer to this question often hinges on the balance between getting the most cotton possible without needing to stop to clean or care for your equipment. To that end, here are a few tips on when to start picking cotton, from your cotton picker parts specialist.
Seeing green
One crucial factor to consider when picking cotton is the amount of green leaves you see on your cotton stalks. While green leaves signify a fresh crop, they can also add a good amount of moisture to your cotton crop. This might sound like a positive thing to an outsider, but cotton growers know that moisture can clog up your cotton picking equipment, necessitating more breaks from picking and slowing down the entire process.
However, waiting for the green leaves to disappear completely is not an option, as this will result in a lower crop yield. Experts tend to agree that picking cotton once somewhere between 85 and 90 percent of the field is open makes for the highest yield and the most efficient picking process. By keeping an eye on your cotton fields every day, you should be able to determine this best picking time for you and your plants.
Measuring humidity
Another major factor to be considered when picking cotton is humidity in the air. For many crops, farmers try to get up as early as possible and start picking, so that they can be done before the harsh heat sets in for the day.
But with cotton, picking too early in the morning might not be ideal, because humidity levels are often at their highest in the morning. In fact, it is not uncommon to see humidity levels at 90 percent each morning in cotton country. As mentioned above, too much moisture can be bad both for the plant and for the overall picking process.
Nighttime also sees high humidity levels, again as high as 90 percent. This leaves us with midday, when humidity levels can drop to somewhere between 30 and 40 percent. This is generally considered prime time for cotton pickers everywhere.
Buying the best
If you want to have the best possible yield without sacrificing efficiency, you need to be thinking about more than just timing. While taking steps to avoid high moisture and humidity levels is important, picking the right gear is just as crucial, and perhaps even more so. After all, quality equipment will inherently be more efficient and make for a better picking experience.
If you are looking for the best cotton pickers and cotton picker parts on the market, it is time for you to get in touch with Certi-Pik, USA. We look forward to helping you find the right equipment for your cotton business.
Year in and year out, cotton pickers experience a tremendous degree of wear and tear as they navigate thousands of acres of crops, diligently picking bolls off of millions of stalks. And while the modern marvels of machinery have made it possible for harvesters to do this seemingly with ease, there’s still a high degree of maintenance that’s required to make sure harvesters are kept functional and efficient.
Preseason is the time to take a proactive approach to maintaining the functionality of a harvester. Cleaning, calibrating and replacing John Deere cotton picker parts before the harvest season is a great way to ensure yet another year of efficient harvesting, while also ensuring your investment in a picker remains sound. Take a look at just some of the maintenance items that should be making the list each preseason:
Tires: Checking for optimal PSI in each tire means rolling out into the field ready to harvest effectively. Low PSI can result in tilts to the row units, creating inefficiency across an entire harvest. Low PSI can also create turbulence as the picker drives forward, creating a bouncing effect that will also decrease the harvest rate.
Row units: You row unit should be properly positioned to capture stalks as they’re fed into the harvester, which means optimizing its height to be as low to the ground as possible without the potential for bumping or skipping. About one inch is usually standard. Along with height, tilt is another factor that needs to be adjusted, to create a seamless transition for stalks as spindles harvest the boll.
Spindles: Spindles need to be thoroughly inspected and replaced where missing or damaged. Be sure to also look at the wear of the spindles to ensure they still remain rugged and have not been worn smooth by last year’s harvest. Spindles generally wear quicker at lower heights, however wear can occur at any height where picking is plentiful.
Doffer: Doffers should be thoroughly cleaned to remove any excess debris and calibrated to run in conjunction with the spindles—general clearance is usually about two tenths of an inch from a spindle row.
Moistening system: Cleaning out your moistening system should be a routine task in the preseason. Be sure to use only specially formulated solutions to protect the integrity of the system—these formulas will target gums, sediments, resins and other buildups cause by green plant matter. Replace damaged pads over time if they present blemishes.
The preseason list goes on and on, also encompassing routine systems such as compressor doors, plant lifters, picker ribs and air conveyance systems. Inspection and maintenance of every part is critical in the preseason and will absolutely prevent costly setbacks and damages come the harvest time. Moreover, paying attention to John Deere cotton picker parts in the preseason allows for more time spent assessing damages or operations before the harvester needs to be functional.
It is always less expensive to replace cotton picker parts than the entire harvester. That is why it is important to pay attention and know when parts are starting to show shortcomings. Start by being aware of these five signs that it may be time to order new parts and increase the efficiency of your harvest:
Noticeable wear: Worn spindles, moistener pads, bearings and cam tracks are normally pretty noticeable. That is why it is advised that you inspect pre- and post-harvest. If you see fraying or obvious damage, this is the first sign that it’s time to buy new parts. Running your picker on excessively worn parts shortens its useful life, so it is best to act as soon as you notice damage.
No improvement after adjustment: Some parts, like spindles, moistener pads and doffers reduce their functioning when they need adjustment. Most of the time, making these minor repairs improves functioning and harvest quality. However, if you notice there are still shortcomings even after you complete the adjustments, it is likely the parts are no longer serviceable. You may also discover during adjustment that wear and tear makes it impossible to achieve the needed alignments, like the one between spindle and moistener pad. This is also a sign that your issue goes beyond adjustment and enters the realm of needing new cotton picker parts.
Frequent fires: If all the cleaning and adjustments you perform still lead to smoldering within your harvester, it is likely that spindles and other parts are no longer working at peak efficiency. When parts start to fail, oils and seeds will build up and provide fuel for fires—especially if the debris winds up near fuel lines or engines. Sometimes the only way to prevent this in the future is to replace the malfunctioning part. Otherwise you risk a full-field fire and worse losses.
Poor tracking: When there is still cotton left in the field, that often shows a row tracking problem with the picker. Like many other issues, this often requires a minor adjustment and harvest efficiency improves. However, if poor doffing, hard locks and crop losses continue, it is time to see which part is failing and find its replacement before you miss out on the full potential of your harvest.
Previous poor maintenance: If you acquired a cotton harvester on the used market and find shortcomings in its maintenance as you use it, it is likely that part failure is soon to follow. In these cases, it is usually prudent to replace parts as you can afford them, since harvesters are very dependent on frequent maintenance. If a previous owner was unwilling to clean and lubricate the harvester, it is likely that there were no part replacements either. Acting before they fail is your best course of action, as it will help preserve your harvester in the long run.
If your harvester requires new parts or a rebuild, contact Certi-Pik, USA for a catalog. We fabricate parts for many models of picking units and would be glad to help you achieve a more productive harvest.
Every good cotton grower knows that even when the last acre of cotton is harvested and baled up, the work isn’t done—the harvester and baler will need to be properly tended to and maintained before they can be put away for the season. Now, this isn’t nearly as simple as driving it into an agriculture building and hosing it off—it takes a clear-cut approach to cleaning all of the picker and baler parts thoroughly, so they’re ready to function properly for next year’s harvest.
Take a look at a few of the most effective methods of cleaning individual picker and baler parts, to make sure you’re giving the vital components of these machines a reprieve from the wear and tear of being put away dirty:
General cleaning: Before you get down and dirty in cleaning the smaller, more refined components of a harvester or baler, you’ll want to give it a more general onceover—to dislodge and remove any larger particulates or loose cotton residuals. The best way to do this is was compressed air—use a heavy duty blower to blast debris from your machine from the top down and be sure to get into all of the nooks and crannies where debris might be hiding. Don’t forget cloves, a face mask, goggles and a hat!
Row units and moisture columns: There’s no easy way around this area of your picker—you’ll have to handpick debris out in lumps! Because debris accumulated here is often wet or has been wet and now has dried in place, compressed air isn’t always going to be powerful enough to remove it. Pick through with your hands first to remove most of the debris, then try and blast out any leftovers with your air compressor afterwards. This will likely be the most time-intensive single aspect of cleaning individual cotton picker parts.
Header: This section is going to be a bit more manual-intensive than most, but it goes by quickly enough. You’ll need to detach the covers from stripping units to reveal any large debris trapped within them—go ahead and pull these out manually. Then, blast everything clean with compressed air and you should be good to go! Reattach everything and make sure it’s secure.
Engine compartment: Having buildups in your engine compartment for extended periods of time is a recipe for disaster! Make sure all access panels are open, dig out any larger debris you can find and then blast everything thoroughly with compressed air. When you’re done, shut everything up tight.
Now, for the most part, blasting your cotton harvester or baler with compressed air will get the job done while you pick out larger debris with your hands. When all is said and done—if you’re done for the season—it’s also a good idea to give your equipment a good wipe-down. Use commercial agricultural machine cleaner for the façade of the equipment, taking care to gently address areas that are of a delicate nature.
When you’re done, make sure everything is in top working order before stowing your equipment—that way, you’ll be ready for next year!
